This blog is affiliated with a course at the School of Journalism & Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I'll try to use it to share relevant news and information with the class, and anyone else who's interested.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Expanding Channels for TV (Quality) Programming

HBO and Showtime showed that original TV-form programming could succeed on pay cable channels. SyFy, AMC, Comedy Central, A&E, and many more are creating and airing original professional-quality (on a par with major broadcast network standards) programming, and grabbing large and lucrative audiences. And now, Netflix has had two hits with new episodes of Arrested Development andoriginal series House of Cards - demonstrating the viability and value of original programming for streaming video-on-demand services, and driving Amazon and Hulu into creating their own original series programming. Broadcast networks are no longer the sole, or even primary, conduits for quality original series programming.

Need proof? Last year cable networks won more Emmys than the major broadcast networks. A&E's Duck Dynasty pulled in more viewers than all original broadcast series programming in recent weeks . HBO's Game of Thrones is becoming the must-see standard for excellence in TV programming. And a recent study showed that 45 million people watch "professional quality" original video programs a month through streaming services.

At the recent Digital Content NewFronts, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon previewed 19 new original series for potential advertisers, and test audiences. NewMediaMetrics asked a sample of 3000 people to indicate their interest in the programs (based on a description), and how much "emotional pull of the premise" they felt. Based on their metrics, they predicted four likely successes - Zombieland (Amazon Studios); The Onion Presents: the News (Amazon Studios); Prisoners of War (Hulu); and Lilyhammer (Netflix). Five other shows rated just below, judged to b e "on the bubble."
If you're wondering how accurate "emotional pull" can be, NewMediaMetrics said it used the measure to accurately predict two-thirds of the flops among the major broadcast networks Fall prime-time series..